#james ward

Midshipman James Ward, portrait c. 1776-1780, attributed to the artist John Webber. The white patches of a midshipman’s rank are visible on his collar.

The midshipman had in fact become the embryo officer. His position as such was given stress when uniform was first introduced for the military officers in 1748 and he was included. “Persons acting as Midshipmen”, said the order, “should likewise have a uniform cloathing in order to distinguish their Class to be in the Rank of Gentlemen.”

The white patch or “turnback” on the midshipman’s collar appears to have been introduced at this time; certainly the regulations in 1787 mention “a stand up collar with small white turn back as before”. The patch was known to generations as a midshipman’s “weekly account”, and by the midshipmen themselves as “the mark of the beast.”

—Snotty: The Story of the Midshipman, by Commander Geoffrey Penn R.N.